Get Woodworking Week 2014!

It’s Get Woodworking Week! An annual woodworking jump start founded by Tom Iovino over at Tomsworkbench.com. So head over there and see what other folks are doing this week too.

Well, I probably won’t be putting blade or edge to wood this week because I have not one but two stools to finish. My stool from the “Shop Stool Build-Off” headed by Chris Wong (flairwoodworks.com) is getting its last few coats of finish this week and then I have to finish a stool I took on as a trade commission for a nice book matched set of spalted maple. Also, I bought a piece of Walnut (from the same tree as the seat from my stool) just because I liked the radiating rings from the knot in the center. More on that in a later post.

Today I was at my local hardwood dealer looking for some Ash and Walnut to use as the base for my future tables (from the wood pictured above). After spending quite a bit of time browsing the flitches of Walnut and racks of Ash I decided to take a stroll through the exotics just to see what they had. To my surprise, I came across a small rack of Koa. Well, I happened to take on a commission for a vase made from a Hawaiian wood, or combination of woods, of my choice. What better wood than Koa, right? The $68/BF price was a hard pill to swallow but being curious I went into the office and asked what the contractor price was (I have an account there since I have my own woodworking business). The clerk told me it would be $31/BF. A little better but still quite pricey for me. I reluctantly returned to the rack and riffled through the pieces and found a board that I felt would suit the job and 4.5 BF later (6 BF after they tag on the milling loss) I left with this little guy. I did pass on the Walnut and Ash at this time.

Koa for a staved vessel

This week will be loaded with finishing and planning out my staved vessel prototype. So whatever stages your projects are currently at, get out there and get them done. This is the week. This is Get Woodworking Week 2014!